For medical imaging examinations, such as magnetic resonance scans for example, a patient is conveyed by a patient table into a receiving area of a medical imaging device, the receiving area being cylindrically surrounded by a detector unit, for example a magnet unit, of the medical imaging device. For said medical imaging examinations the patient is prepared on the patient table by a member of the operating staff; for example, the patient is positioned for this purpose on support aids and/or additional local coils are positioned around the patient when magnetic resonance examinations are performed, etc. It can happen in this situation that objects are deposited in the receiving area for temporary storage. If the patient table is subsequently introduced into the receiving area, the objects stored there can lead to undesirable collisions with the patient table. Undesirable damage to the objects and/or to the patient table is also not ruled out. Furthermore, the objects placed within the receiving area can be pushed through the receiving area by the patient table, with the result that said objects can fall down after reaching an end of the receiving area, which can in turn lead to damage to said objects.